GIOVANNI’S LIGHT

A children’s writer spins a grown-up fable about a sleepy village that had a white Christmas—and was changed forever.

Nestled below Old Rag Mountain, Ryland Falls is home to barely three thousand souls, quiet folk who go about their business from day to day and year to year with little change in their routines. Ed Crimmins, the wealthy clockmaker, manages his company with Swiss precision, to such an extent that he sometimes neglects his wife Olivia and son Neddie. Newcomer Will Campbell teaches art classes at the local public school and tries to paint his own canvases in his spare time. The widower Giovanni lives alone with his dog Max on his evergreen farm, harvesting trees for Christmas and trying to forget the deaths of his wife Lucia and son Carlo. Although Ryland Falls is not a great place for the creative and the unorthodox, it is picturesque and capable of providing inspiration to those sensitive enough to notice the beauty around them—artists like Will Campbell and young Neddie Crimmins, for example, or poets like 11-year-old Miranda Bridgeman. Christmas is usually a big thing in Ryland Falls, but this year for some reason no one has the heart for it: The decorations go up as usual, but the spirit just isn’t there. Late in December, however, a blizzard strikes, knocking out the electricity and bringing everyone in town together for warmth and comfort. Even in a place as quiet as Ryland Falls, it helps to slow down for a change and take stock of things, and by the time the power is back everyone has learned the value of the people—and the place—around them.

Likely to warm hearts, especially if read within sight of a nicely trimmed tree. But its shelf life will last about as long as fresh eggnog or raw chestnuts.